Wigan 2-0 Bolton

Wigan striker Jason Roberts struck twice in the first half

A double from striker Jason Roberts was enough to book Wigan's place in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup.

The Latics' record signing struck twice in the space of five first-half minutes to put Wigan into the last four for the first time.

Roberts finished off a pass from Andreas Johansson for the first and then pounced on Radhi Jaidi's error.

Wigan won in the absence of ill boss Paul Jewell - with assistant Chris Hutchings in temporary charge.

Interview: Wigan captain Matt Jackson

Bolton dominated the second half but could not get back into the tie.

Roberts' brace brought an end to a run of seven games without a goal and added a spark to a match that took time to get into any sort of rhythm.

With just two points separating the two Lancashire clubs, it was predictable that it would be a close affair, with perhaps the chance of silverware adding that extra bit of caution.

It was Bolton, runners-up in 2004, who made the better start and they should have been ahead in the opening stages.

I'm glad Wigan are doing well I just wish you wouldn't do so well against us! From BW Have your say on 606

Jaidi set up Abdoulaye Faye, whose shot beat Mike Pollitt but Leighton Baines was on hand to clear the ball off the line.

Gary Speed also wasted a good opportunity after being set up by Kevin Davies.

The Trotters were unable to make their dominance tell but the fact the nearest Wigan came in the opening 25 minutes was a hopeful handball call against Jaidi showed how limp the home side were in the attacking third.

But that all changed when Roberts netted twice in the space of five minutes, to leave Bolton shell-shocked as they headed for the half-time break.

The first goal came from a well-worked move as Roberts turned Ben Haim to fire past Jussi Jaaskelainen and the visitors were given no time to recover.

Then, in first-half injury time, Jaidi tried to clear his lines but made a hash of things, presenting Roberts with the simplest of opportunities.

Jaidi had a chance to make up for his indiscretion early in the second half but was unable to make a telling touch to Hidetoshi Nakata's free-kick.

And the Latics had Pollitt to thank for preserving their clean sheet when he blocked Ricardo Vaz Te's half-volley from eight yards.

The Wigan keeper also saved El Hadji Diouf's close-range header.

---

Wigan captain Matt Jackson:
"It was another great performance on the back of a good win against Charlton.

"We have got a great togetherness with the lads and I'm sure there will be a few more names coming in January. We are a more attractive proposition now.

"Bolton have got lot of quality and it could have been interesting if they had managed to get a goal in the last 20 minutes.

"It's great to be in the semi-finals but we have a difficult Christmas coming up and 40 points has still got to be our target."

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce:
"We had five mad minutes at the end of the first half after we had been so comfortable.

"It turned out that we were the victims of a very good striker in Jason Roberts, who, under Paul Jewell, is continuing to mature and Paul's know-how is getting the best out of him.

"We have missed a magnificent opportunity to get through to the semi-finals, which would have been tough for us with some of our players away in the African Nations Cup.

"It would have been great to look forward to the draw but that's all gone for us now."

---

Wigan: Pollitt, Taylor (Chimbonda 86), De Zeeuw, Jackson, Baines, Mahon (Teale 69), Kavanagh, Francis, McCulloch, Johansson (Camara 69), Roberts.
Subs Not Used: Filan, Connolly.

Booked: Kavanagh.

Goals: Roberts 40, 45.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Ben Haim, Jaidi, Gardner, Giannakopoulos (Vaz Te 57), Speed, Faye (Okocha 71), Nolan, Nakata (Diouf 61), Davies.
Subs Not Used: Walker, Hunt.

Booked: Nolan, Diouf.

Attendance: 13,401.

Referee: M Dean (Wirral).